BELLEVUE -- The Bellevue City Council had an opportunity Tuesday, Feb. 20, to ask staff questions about plans for growth in the Bel-Red Corridor. In a powerpoint presentation, staff reviewed four different scenarios for employment, housing and transportation developing in the area between State Route 520 and Bel-Red Road, from Interstate 405 to the city's border with Redmond at 148th Avenue.

All four scenarios are included in the draft environmental impact statement released by city planners on Jan. 25. The city wants residents and businesses offer input on the draft EIS, which will help them choose the ideal vision for Bel-Red. People have until March 12 to submit comments.

The Bel-Red Corridor has been a major employment area, but it's changing, with large employers moving out or reducing operations. At the same time, Sound Transit is planning an Eastside light rail line that, if completed, would pass through the Bel-Red Corridor into Redmond. City planners have begun working with the community to anticipate and manage changes to benefit the community.

Crafted with input from businesses, residents and a City Council-appointed steering committee, the draft EIS envisions three different mixes of businesses and housing coming to Bel-Red over the next 30 years, along with street improvements and light rail stops. A fourth "no-action" alternative assumes no major changes in land use in the corridor.

The draft EIS may be downloaded from the Bel-Red Corridor section of the city website or obtained from the Service First desk on the first floor of City Hall, as a compact disk (free) or as a paper copy ($10).

Public comment about the draft EIS may be submitted via e-mail or in writing to Carol Helland, Bellevue Department of Planning & Community Development, P.O. Box 90012, Bellevue, WA 98009-9012. Comments should be as specific as possible and may address either the adequacy of the document or the merits of the alternatives or both. Comments may be on the methodology, alternatives, elements of the environment, mitigation measures, probable significant impacts and potential conditions on any licenses or approvals to be considered by the city.

Public input on the draft EIS and the document itself will help the Bel-Red Corridor Project Steering Committee develop a preferred alternative, anticipated this spring. The steering committee will make a recommendation to the Bellevue City Council later this spring or summer.